Gambling Problem: 5 Consequences That Can Result From This Addiction

Updated on April 30, 2014

Pain From Gambling

Gambling Problems Can Result In Pain

A gambling problem can result in a lot of pain in many areas of our life. Sometimes the consequences happen swiftly, and other times it can happen over a period of years. Regardless of how long it takes, the effects of gambling problems/addiction can be truly devastating.

Many of you may have experienced some of these painful effects of gambling. Some of you may have gone into extreme debt, lost your home, experienced poor health, lost your job, and lost your family.

It is hoped, however, that you did not experience too much devastation from gambling, and that your life is still okay. The earlier you catch it and arrest the process, the more you will see improvement in your life. Things do get better.

Below I will outline some of the consequences that you could have if you continue on this path. Gambling addiction is truly a path to self-destruction, and nothing good can come out of this addiction.

Even when you win, you will eventually lose everything. That is if you have a gambling addiction. If you are a recreational gambler and have the good fortune of being in control of your gambling behavior, this may not be the case.

Gambling And Lost Work Time

1.Losing Time From Work Because Of Gambling

It is very easy to lose time from work due to gambling. Sometimes the urge becomes so great, that you may skip out from work just to get that high from either being at the machines, playing blackjack, or sports betting. Whatever your gambling addiction of choice is, it is truly possible to lose time from work as a result of this addiction.

Losing time from work has far reaching consequences. If you own your own business like I do, you can lose the daily income that you receive from your clients. If you have an employer, you could be fired from your job. It does not matter what your situation truly is. If you lose time from work, you are truly at risk, and this can have far reaching implications and consequences for your life.

If there is any harm management that you could do for yourself, it is not missing work due to this addiction. Losing your livelihood could be truly devastating for you and your family.

Lying About Gambling

2.Lying To Family And Friends About Where Your Are

If you gamble and have done so in an addictive way, you may have lied to your family and friends on your whereabouts. It is not easy to say.. "Oh... yeah.. I am at the casino, but I promise to be home several hours from now." It is easier to say that you are at work, at a business meeting, or doing some errands The lying takes on a life of its' own. It is not meant to hurt friends or family, but a way of protecting your gambling addiction secret.

Lying to family and friends never feels good. We know we are being dishonest, and most of the time this is not in harmony with who we are as individuals. Even though we are trying to protect the feelings of those we love, we know deep in our hearts that we are hurting these individuals.

Lying begins to become a way of life for problem gamblers and it can never be a way of life that we truly feel proud of in any way, shape, or form. When we lose our integrity because of lying it will take a serious toll on our mental health and self esteem, especially when we were traditionally honest people before our addiction took hold.

Depression And Anxiety From Gambling

3.Depression And Anxiety From A Gambling Problem

A gambling problem, especially when it is severe can cause a lot of mental health related issues. If you have an addiction to gambling, you may have experienced this first hand. It is very easy to become emotionally distraught if you are spending all of your money and time in an activity that you know in your heart is bad for you.

Depression and anxiety are common, because of guilt over the gambling,losing friends, lack of proper self-care, low-self esteem, lying, and losing a lot of money and building up debt. The depression and anxiety is insidious and you may not know what is happening to you. You may not understand or really acknowledge how bad you feel.

The problem with declining mental health as a result of an addiction is that it causes a vicious cycle of acting out in our addiction to relieve our bad feelings. It becomes a really ugly, and very dangerous catch-22.

All of these life consequences can leave you feeling severely emotionally depleted. Gambling addiction has the highest suicide rate of all addictions combined. Many studies have shown that it is the result of debt. I believe it is that as well as the combination of the downward spiral in all areas of life from the addiction.

Self Neglect From Gambling

4.Neglecting Yourself Physically

Many of you with a severe gambling problem will neglect yourself physically. Spending a lot of time at casinos and having a preoccupation with gambling can cause a total lack of self-care. Gaining or losing a lot of weight, poor nutrition, poor dental health, smoking, and alcohol abuse are all quite common.

Lack of exercise, eating poorly, inhaling second-hand smoke or smoking, or heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages contribute to this. When you combine all of these things the result is very poor physical health.

In addition, many of you may not take time to go to the dentist or doctor. This may be because you are spending much of your time gambling, or that you have no left over funds to afford your annual checkups or even doctors appointments when you are feeling unwell.

Gambling Debt

5. Going Into Debt Because Of Gambling

This one here is truly a big one for all of you. This is something that happens as a result of partaking in ongoing betting. Going into gambling debt can be one of the toughest consequences of all. This is because long after you stop gambling you may still have ongoing financial difficulties that can cause a lot of stress for you and your family.

As I stated previously, many of the gambling related suicides are a result of insurmountable debt. This is as serious as losing ones' car, home, taking out personal loans and payday loans, and severe credit card debt from gambling.

This is one of the reasons that this is one of the worst addictions to have. When you stop drinking or drugging for example (if you have these addictions), you can start healing mentally and physically immediately and start resuming life as usual.

This is not the case, however, with gambling. Destroying oneself financially, raiding 410 K and retirement accounts, and having debts as high as 6 figures is not uncommon in the world of gambling addiction.

Gambling Can Harm

A Gambling Problem Or Addiction Can Harm

The conclusion is that a gambling addiction or problem can truly harm your life in many ways. There are so many consequences that this can have for you in your life. I have not actually named all of these because it is far-reaching.

The good thing is that there is a lot of help available for you. If you visit my site GAMBLING CAN HARM you will have a full page of resources to help you with this problem.